


Soft Equilibrium

by TaxMax



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Can be read as friendship, Fluff, Gen, M/M, first fic in the fandom and first fic in a long time, rhink, very slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-02 21:34:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14553996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaxMax/pseuds/TaxMax
Summary: Through the years, Link has had some tough times in his life, but Rhett was at his side through it all."Every time he stumbled, Rhett was there to catch him. Every shaky step had a steady hand. Every furious word had a calming whisper. They were not opposites in life, but in extremes."





	Soft Equilibrium

**Author's Note:**

> Hey I'm Tax and I'm new to the Mythical Beasts. This is my first fic for the fandom and first fic I've written in general for a long time, so go easy on me haha. I got the idea from my interest in platonic touching, like holding hands and cuddling, but I felt the intensity became more romantic. This can be read as best friends, but that's up to you. I hope you enjoy :)

**It started when they were small but their emotions ran high. Link often became overwhelmed by it all, sometimes shutting down and other times taking it out on anyone close; yelling, screaming, releasing all of his energy through moving limbs and angry words. Rhett would let his friend scream and wiggle his heart out from under a trap of body weight, creating his infamous “I’m dead” move. Link would eventually tire himself to the point of exhaustion, feeling the embers of his anger turn to ash with the repeated phrase from his friend. Somehow the repetition soothed him, similar to the constant whir of a fan or the drone of a tv in the background. Happy in its success, Rhett began using the move whenever tension was high. Link fell victim in not only arguments and competitions but also on stressful days when he wasn’t upset with Rhett specifically but at the world. In the moment he’d be pissed, but afterwards he’d be silently thankful for the mostly painless anger relief.**

**As they grew older, Link’s anger switched to anguish, its focus turning inwards. More than ever, Link began shutting down and shunning everything he once enjoyed. Again, everything was too much for his poor head. Class and relationships and parents and futures weighed on his body, pulling him lower and lower towards a dreaded ultimatum. Rhett knew the old move wouldn’t cut it here. “I’m dead” was for releasing steam, not for clinging. He knew Link wouldn’t want to talk about it. He hardly even wanted to see anyone, which surprisingly included Rhett. While blessed with the edge’s presence, Rhett did what he felt could help. If Link was sinking, Rhett was going to offer a hand to bring him back, to keep him treading the water until he could climb his way out. With slight hesitation at first, Link eventually took the outreached hand. Nothing changed at first. Much like before, the simple pressure and presence gradually let him release his frustration. Rhett spoke of nothing and everything, of the sandwich he had for lunch, of the show he saw that morning, of this joke he heard in class. They didn’t speak of the feeling overflowing down Link’s face. The self-deprecation squeezing out into their palms. From then on, when Rhett could see** **_it_ ** **building behind Link’s eyes, seeing his gaze harden and his lips pull too much to be sincere, he would hold out his hand with his palm facing upwards. Silently, Link would let his feelings out in a deep breath; a single pressure between them and Link is okay again. It’s never a long term solution, but it kept him from drowning. A life line just an arm’s length away. Anxiety, pain, hurt, sorrow, a day that took too much, all of it could be soothed by a squeeze. A reminder that someone was there.**

**In college, everything erupted in the form of happiness, energy, and smiles so bright they hurt to look at. Link couldn’t contain a laugh, couldn’t stop the waggle of the brow or the wink. The girls giggled or rolled their eyes and Link flourished in their attention. So much energy from his voice, his body radiated a heat that smouldered anyone who tried to get near.  A furnace running too high, a burnout was imminent. Lively and reckless, he missed out on the feelings he deserved for years and they were all bubbling up to binge drinking and nightly parties. Without a crowd of attention, all of the energy released in the form of bouncing knees and tapping fingers; words a mile a minute and a spirit floating up and out to run away with this air. Rhett brought his friend back with light touches to ground him. A knock of the knees, a touch of a toe, and a shift of the shoulder, reminders that he was paying attention. Link didn’t need to seek it out, Rhett’s eyes were on him. A contagious smile, a steady knee, an upturned palm. A simple pressure. Being able to get all of the attention he desired from a single connection, a simple touch of knees. All of the excess energy seemed to flow between them, reaching an evenness between too much and too little. When Link’s energy spiked to high, he knew he’d have Rhett there to lessen the blow. When he needed to be the center of the circle, he found himself in two. The attention he desired was there when he needed it.**

**In the show, Link juggled his desire for attention with his fear of messing up, of making a fool of himself in  a way he didn’t intend. With the immense popularity came the creeping feeling of millions of eyes following his every move. Most of the time he was fine, he could follow the script, adlib to his heart’s content, but one mess up, a single stutter at the wrong time and his entire train would come crashing off the rails. He’d reach a hard stop and his composure would crack, seemingly impossible to paste back together. Rhett could tell when Link’s brain jumped the track; he would draw Link’s eyes for a quick contact and a simple tap from his shoe. He would continue where his friend left off, seamlessly pulling the attention as if it were meant to shift at that moment. That small moment, that glimpse of reassurance, that time to recover, put Link almost back to where he was before. The episode would continue with barely another hitch, but every rare spike was another comfort and unseen interaction. Link was reminded every time to just breath; he had a shoulder to lean on, it wasn’t just him. This was a two person show.**

**Every time he stumbled, Rhett was there to catch him. Every shaky step had a steady hand. Every furious word had a calming whisper. They were not opposites in life, but in extremes. Too much anger is met with too much passiveness, too much hatred is met with too much love, a deficit in attention with too much to give, a fear with a passion. Everything that erupted from Link’s mind was quelled by Rhett’s touches.**

**And at night when he found it hard to sleep, the fingers brushing through his hair and the beard that tickled his skin reminded him that he could rest easy knowing that he was not alone. He never had to suffer his extremes. With Rhett, he could reach equilibrium.**

**Author's Note:**

> And there we have it. I wrote it in a couple of hours while watching Netflix, but hopefully there aren't too many errors or confusing sentences. I gave it a once over and basically said its ready for the world. Let me know what you think or of how I could improve :D


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